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In the machine tool business there are a handful of companies (Fanuc, Mitsubishi and Siemens) that dominate the Computer Numerical Controls (CNC) business. In terms of unit volume and installed base, FANUC is by far the market leader. Over the several decades that I have been following Fanuc, they have been singularly focused on advancements in machine control technology and improving their own production operations to achieve cost advantages. Advancements in servo motors, servo drives and software algorithms for machine tool control have all benefited from this singular focus. Over the last 5 years Fanuc has been a company undergoing transformation as the company expands their reach into optimization of production operations. Possibly the first visible case of moving closer to production management was the partnership with Rockwell Automation that sought tighter integration of the Logix platform with FANUC CNC systems specifically for power train applications. This partnership has evolved and has further expanded by adding capabilities over EthernetIP that improve the integration. The partnership with Rockwell is a relatively small piece of the story.
FANUC has introduced the FIELD System (FANUC Intelligent Edge Link and Drive system) which is a platform that connects CNC machines, robots, peripheral devices and sensors in an effort to deliver analytics that optimize manufacturing production. The FIELD System is a computing and network platform that has been developed by the Cisco. The platform is being used as intermediate database store using Mongo and has ample compute power to run advance analytic engines. Through a partnership with Preferred Networks, FANUC is offering and analytics engine referred to as a “deep learning” applications. “Deep learning” was demonstrated at the recent IMTS 2016 show in Chicago (although reports of this have been as early as late 2015). In a vision guided robotics bin picking application the “deep learning” algorithm progressively improved bin picking by identifying optimal orientations to pick a work piece out of the bin. Obviously, not production management, but certainly placing a stake in the ground of using cognitive technologies to assist robotic systems in improving production throughput.
Over the past 6 months or so the story is becoming clearer. When the FIELD System was first announced in April 2016, it was positioned as part of the Edge and Fog computing concept. However, the positioning of the product appears to be definitively positioned in the Fog. FANUC has stratified the manufacturing enterprise into three tiers: Edge, Fog and Cloud. The line of demarcation for the Edge has been drawn at the Machine tool; the on premise FIELD System resides in the Fog; and the Cloud is off premise. The machine tool and robotic systems are a wealth of untapped sensory information that can be used to drive learning systems. For many manufacturers the hosting of a localized learning system is a more acceptable transition to using big data rather than transitioning directly to offsite Cloud based solutions. Regardless of the architectural issues, the opportunity for FANUC to place a stake in the market for production intelligence is quite significant. The installed base of FANUC CNCs and Robotics has to be nearing at least a million systems globally. This offers a tremendous business potential without even considering how to integrate the FIELD System to heterogeneous automation equipment.
For FANUC this is a tremendous shift in focus for a company that has been solely focused on machine control. They appear to be committed to this direction as the they just announced a partnership with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) to cooperate with regard to edge-computing technologies. NTT will support customers using the FIELD System specifically with regard to improving manufacturing practices, the entire NTT Group will aim to create high value-added services and establish new business models with business partners.
I expect the story to become clearer over the next several years as FANUC customers begin to implement these solutions. But, the competition is going to be fierce in this space as numerous other alternatives emerge that can address the heterogeneous nature of manufacturing environments.
FANUC has introduced the FIELD System (FANUC Intelligent Edge Link and Drive system) which is a platform that connects CNC machines, robots, peripheral devices and sensors in an effort to deliver analytics that optimize manufacturing production. The FIELD System is a computing and network platform that has been developed by the Cisco. The platform is being used as intermediate database store using Mongo and has ample compute power to run advance analytic engines. Through a partnership with Preferred Networks, FANUC is offering and analytics engine referred to as a “deep learning” applications. “Deep learning” was demonstrated at the recent IMTS 2016 show in Chicago (although reports of this have been as early as late 2015). In a vision guided robotics bin picking application the “deep learning” algorithm progressively improved bin picking by identifying optimal orientations to pick a work piece out of the bin. Obviously, not production management, but certainly placing a stake in the ground of using cognitive technologies to assist robotic systems in improving production throughput.
Over the past 6 months or so the story is becoming clearer. When the FIELD System was first announced in April 2016, it was positioned as part of the Edge and Fog computing concept. However, the positioning of the product appears to be definitively positioned in the Fog. FANUC has stratified the manufacturing enterprise into three tiers: Edge, Fog and Cloud. The line of demarcation for the Edge has been drawn at the Machine tool; the on premise FIELD System resides in the Fog; and the Cloud is off premise. The machine tool and robotic systems are a wealth of untapped sensory information that can be used to drive learning systems. For many manufacturers the hosting of a localized learning system is a more acceptable transition to using big data rather than transitioning directly to offsite Cloud based solutions. Regardless of the architectural issues, the opportunity for FANUC to place a stake in the market for production intelligence is quite significant. The installed base of FANUC CNCs and Robotics has to be nearing at least a million systems globally. This offers a tremendous business potential without even considering how to integrate the FIELD System to heterogeneous automation equipment.
For FANUC this is a tremendous shift in focus for a company that has been solely focused on machine control. They appear to be committed to this direction as the they just announced a partnership with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) to cooperate with regard to edge-computing technologies. NTT will support customers using the FIELD System specifically with regard to improving manufacturing practices, the entire NTT Group will aim to create high value-added services and establish new business models with business partners.
I expect the story to become clearer over the next several years as FANUC customers begin to implement these solutions. But, the competition is going to be fierce in this space as numerous other alternatives emerge that can address the heterogeneous nature of manufacturing environments.